By the city river, Lucy walked home along the riverbank edge, arms outstretched.
Plue of Canis Minor still tremblingly followed behind. The fishing boats passing by still offered their kind reminder to be careful.
"Bro Chase, Loki, and Elfman on a date..."
Lucy unconsciously imagined the hidden chuuni card player, the perverted playboy, and the tough guy—three top monsters in their respective fields—getting together for a romantic date.
"Damn it! I really want to know what that looked like!"
Lucy clenched her fists, burning curiosity in her eyes.
With various blush-inducing strange thoughts, she arrived at her apartment.
Keys out, unlock, push door—bright light spilled onto her.
Strange? Why wasn't I at all surprised that the lights were on?
The thought barely crossed her mind when the next scene almost made her spit blood.
There were Natsu and Happy, doing push-ups on her living room carpet!
"You two again!"
Lucy, now furious, yelled, "If you want to exercise, do it on the street! Your sweat stinks!!!"
"Yo, Lucy! You're back."
Natsu stopped his workout and greeted her as if it were natural.
"Aye~! Lucy, welcome home!" Happy also raised his arm high.
"This is MY home!!" Lucy exploded.
"Hey Lucy, I didn't know you had this! You're a lifesaver!"
Natsu completely ignored her shouting, looking as if he'd discovered a new continent. He pulled the pink dumbbell from under the coffee table and gave it a few practice swings.
"Now I can work out at Lucy's place." He declared.
"Guess we have no choice, Natsu." Happy shrugged helplessly.
Lucy's mouth twitched: "...After all that, you still need excuses for breaking and entering? You two are thieves!"
"Happy! Two hundred more push-ups!"
"Aye~!"
"Listen to the owner of this house! Your sweat stink is reaching me!!"
Watching the duo doing push-ups rapidly, Lucy was completely speechless. She grabbed a stool and sat down.
"Hurry up and finish, then go home. I'm about to sleep." She sighed in resignation.
She really wondered if having these two weirdos was a good thing or a bad thing.
Hearing this, Natsu slowly stopped, sat on the floor, and his expression suddenly turned extremely serious.
Happy followed suit.
"Hey Lucy, we've decided. We're going to do an S-Class Quest. We're going to make the old man and that bastard Laxus recognize my strength!"
Across the city river, at Chase's house.
"Just like Master said! They actually left."
Dark Magician Girl leaned against the window, watching Lucy rush downstairs and quickly catch up with Natsu and Happy, who were carrying packs.
Knowing the guild rule that only S-Class mages could take S-Class quests, Lucy had wanted to stay out of it. But the quest's extra reward was too tempting for a Celestial Spirit mage.
A super rare Zodiac key!
"Though he also causes bad things, Natsu always thinks of Lucy first."
Chase sat in the living room, leisurely sipping tea, and smiled.
Seeing Dark Magician Girl's energetic state, he said softly, "You recovered so quickly is a bit unexpected."
Card monsters, when killed in battle, needed to return to the deck to hibernate for a while.
Back during the encounter with Flame God Dragon Ignia, she'd been out for three whole days!
"Erza held back. She didn't give me mortal wounds."
Dark Magician Girl pointed a pale finger at her cheek and blinked cutely. "And compared to back on Guiltina, Master's gotten stronger, right?"
"True." Chase nodded.
Since returning to the guild, including Slifer from Ignia, he'd gained four new cards: Guardian of the Fortress, Brain Control, and the Right Arm of the Forbidden One.
The resulting magic power increase was considerable.
"Great timing! A weird purple moon and flying demons—just thinking about it sounds so pretty!" Dark Magician Girl looked expectantly.
From Chase, she knew the general situation on Galuna Island.
Super beautiful?
Chase was momentarily surprised, then understood, considering those card companions whose aesthetics were in a different league from Dark Magician Girl's.
"So Master, when do we leave?" Dark Magician Girl asked.
"Not in a hurry. Tomorrow morning. We need a valid reason."
As he spoke, Chase's gaze fell on the rippling tea.
"Natsu going to Galuna Island now means the Moon Drip plan is in its final stage."
"Ur's Iced Shell on the demon Deliora is about to be undone..."
Dark Magician Girl sat beside Chase, tilting her head. "Ur... that's Gray's teacher you mentioned?"
"Exactly."
Chase downed the warm tea in one gulp, his eyes twinkling.
The time to completely kill Ur, frozen in "never-melting ice"...
Was ripe!
The next morning, at the Fairy Tail guild.
Hurried footsteps rushing down the stairs shattered the rare peace.
"Master! A request is missing from the second floor!" Mira's panicked voice rang out.
Those simple words made Makarov, peacefully drinking tea, spray it everywhere.
The other guild members' eyes widened in shock.
"What? A second-floor request? That's S-Class, right?!"
"Mira didn't register it, so Chase and the others didn't take it?!"
"Which idiot would do something like this?!"
...
Everyone buzzed with discussion, never imagining anyone would be so reckless.
"I saw it. A winged cat took it."
A loud voice interrupted the chaos. Laxus, legs crossed, sat on the second-floor balcony, a mocking smile on his face.
"A winged cat? Happy?"
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen Natsu or Lucy today."
"What are those idiots thinking?! Don't they know how dangerous an S-Class quest is?!"
Mira, standing at the stair corner, returned to the second floor and confronted the blond. "Laxus! If you saw them, why didn't you stop them?"
"I thought it was some stray cat, not Natsu and Happy."
Laxus shrugged chalantly, his face begging for a punch. "Hey, old man! This is a serious violation. They should be expelled, right?"
"Though with their half-assed skills, they'll probably die on the quest! Hahaha!"
The laughter died in his throat as an icy chill washed over him.
Looking up at Mira's utterly gloomy, terrifying face, he straightened slightly.
"Heh. Long time no see. What, you gonna take in Satan Soul and beat me up right here?"
Makarov had no patience for his rebellious grandson. "Mira, which request is missing?"
"Cursed Island: Galuna." Mira's brow furrowed.
"What?!" Makarov startled.
This wasn't some ordinary S-Class quest!
"Laxus! Go bring Natsu back now! That island's too dangerous for him right now!"
The only ones capable besides Laxus were Mira, who had emerged from her self-imposed isolation.
But Laxus's words had disgusted everyone. Even the usually gentle Mira had had enough.
Sending him to bring back the errant Natsu might salvage his reputation a bit.
He was still his grandson. Makarov didn't want to see Laxus disgusted and ostracized by the Fairy Tail family.
"No time. I have a quest."
Clearly, the rebellious Laxus had no idea of the old man's good intentions, or didn't care if he did.
He was destined to be the guild's strongest. Why care about the opinions of poor weaklings?
Ridiculous!
"You!" Makarov clenched his fists in anger.
Seeing Laxus had no intention of moving, disappointment flashed in Mira's eyes. She sighed deeply.
"Master, let me go." She spoke calmly.
"Manly! Mira-nee, I'm coming with you!" Elfman stepped forward.
Now fully in control of the Beast King Soul, he was confident.
"No need for all that trouble, Mira. Don't you have guild work to do?"
Gray, who had remained silent, slowly stood and looked confidently at Makarov. "It's just Natsu and his two hangers-on. Master, leave it to me."
Makarov frowned, lost in thought.
His doubtful expression annoyed Gray. He was about to speak when the guild door suddenly burst open with a BANG.
Under everyone's gaze, Chase and Dark Magician Girl slowly walked in.
"Chase!"
Mira's worried expression instantly relaxed into a relieved smile.
"Tch. Another boring busybody."
Laxus snorted coldly, stood, and left.
With Chase here, there was no more fun to be had—he respected Chase's strength, at least.
"Gray, I'm coming with you. Nothing better to do." Chase said.
"Hey! I said I could handle it alone!"
"Decision made. Got a problem? Take it up with my fist."
"...No."
And so, after a quick word with Makarov, Chase threw an arm around the reluctant Gray and left the guild to hunt down Natsu.
After they left, the guild returned to normal.
Companions are noisy, drinking and chatting. No one worried about Natsu anymore.
That was the sense of security Chase brought!
***
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